Yes, a whole week (plus!) without putting thought to keyboard (because pen to paper doesn’t work in this setup) and my mind is whirling with thousands of things to write about.

Unfortunately, they are all dated and of no consequence, so they won’t see the light of day.

I will say this: We (the United States) have enough untapped oil deposits to be free from foreign energy, when combined with alternative forms of energy. Like, walking and riding bikes and sharing the rides you do have to make. Selfish buggers. I’m talking to you, Phoenix. Hundreds of miles of freeways and surface streets, and still we have more people driving solo than sharing rides. Oh, and whining about fuel costs. Here, in one of the few areas of the country that was not affected by Ike’s price increases. Selfish buggers.

I will also say that Obama has finally seen the light, and is trying to slam Palin’s door shut. Tough noogies, Barry. There are still a few things you haven’t shared with the US as a whole that need to be cleared up. Like, a paper copy of your birth certificate. Records from your college time. Lists of clients, cases, and whatnot from your time as a lawyer. What, exactly, a community organizer in Chicago does. Why ACORN plays such a big part in your life. Why Bill Ayers, an unrepentant domestic terrorist, is one of your biggest fans. And, why does the entire muslim world want you to be our next president, if you aren’t muslim?

On with updates of a personal nature:
Custom woodworking isn’t paying the bills. I’ve actually lost money this year. So, I’m driving a cab two nights a week to help make ends meet.
Speaking of custom woodworking, I have a project to do. I need to make a storage case for an item that measures 8 3/8″ long by 6 1/4″ deep by 4 1/4″ high. It will incorporate a picture frame, a brass plaque, fancy footwork and a hinged lid. It will hold Logan’s ashes.
MEG still misses Logan, as do the other dogs. All five of them (MEG and the four dogs) wander around at times; MEG calling for Logey Ogey, the dogs sniffing the places he normally laid. Sara seems to be especially lonely, since the two of them would often lay together at night.

Life, however, goes on. I need to go run some errands. I will swing through the blogroll later today, and drop comments where appropriate. It’s good to be back, and I will try to keep all three of my regular readers entertained whilst I continue to ramble. With the cab, I should have some good stories. Like Saturday evening, when ASU got handed their butts on their home field, and I was sitting in Tempe traffic when they got their one and only touchdown, and I had forgotten that they tend to celebrate those things with fireworks…

Thank you for stopping by, In GOD We Trust, God bless you all, listen to The O Word on BlogTalkRadio, Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!

As you may or may not remember, Wednesday is usually a day of rest from the blog. Today is one of those rare days when TMBWitW is working not from home but in her office in The Dark Tower today (end of an accounting cycle, you know) and I get to play on the computer until MEG wakes up.

First thing out the gate on this auspicious occasion? Gawfer opens up a can and shares a video that he got from Jake. The video has some very good information and connecting of the dots in regards to a certain young presidential candidate (notice the use of the word “young” – that rules out McSame and Clintoon) and should, in my opinion, be required viewing for anyone who thinks this dude is some sort of political messiah.

Video available here.

Second – sometimes, Windows drives me crazy. I try to get logged on and get going on the computer before MEG wakes up, and something needs to be updated. Or, something needs to be restarted. Or, something has magically uninstalled itself and needs attention. Que sera.

When MEG does wake up, she will wander into the office at some time, point to the monitor, and say “Wha wha?”

No, she’s not asking for water. She is asking for this. TMBWitW accidentally showed this to MEG one day while trying to find a certain Dalmatian game on disney.com. Now, it’s all MEG wants to see on the computer. Never mind some of us actually do other things with the computer…

I hear MEG now, so that’s my cue. Have a good hump day, ya’ll.

Thank you for stopping by, God bless you all, listen to The O Word on BlogTalkRadio, Wear Red on Fridays, and support Warriors for Innocence!

WorldVitalRecords.com Launches World Genealogy Collection

A billion names from 33 countries coming online

PROVO, UT, February 4, 2008 — WorldVitalRecords.com (a service of FamilyLink.com) released today its flagship product, the World Collection, an online genealogy database containing more than 1.5 billion names from 35 countries.

WorldVitalRecords.com‘s World Collection launch includes significant collections from countries such as: England, Canada, Australia, France, Ireland, Scotland, Hungary, and Portugal.

“All over the world there are wonderful people who are digitizing and preserving historic records,” said Paul Allen, CEO, FamilyLink.com, Inc. “During the past year we have traveled and met with these content providers from more than a dozen countries. We are pleased today to announce that many of them have chosen to let us distribute their genealogical databases on the Internet.”

More than 20 companies have partnered with WorldVitalRecords.com to make this new collection possible. They include Find My Past, Genealogical Publishing Company, Archive CD Books Australia, British Origins, Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild, Archive CD Books Canada, Eneclann, Quintin Publications, Gould Genealogy, Familias Argentinas, Godfrey Memorial Library, and Moravian Heritage Society.

“This is a very exciting announcement for our WorldVitalRecords.com members. As we enter our second year, we have accomplished much including having more than 24,000 paid subscribers, 2 million users on our We’re Related application on Facebook, and have announced 2 billion names in our two major content collections, the US and World Collection. The number two seems to be common theme in this announcement as we enter our second stage,” said David Lifferth, President, FamilyLink.com, Inc.

The World Collection includes birth, marriage and death records, census records, passenger lists, immigration lists, emigration records, foreign newspapers, cemetery records, reference materials, land records, family histories, historical records, city directories, business directories, township histories, civil service records, telephone directories, government records, war records, and maps, atlases, and gazetteers.

Census records from the UK comprise WorldVitalRecords.com‘s largest database in the World Collection. These records include the 1851, 1861, 1881, and 1891, 1901 censuses. These records are the official civil registration records for England and Wales from 1837 to the present. All of these censuses will be periodically posted county by county throughout the year. These censuses include images, and also a key-word searchable index.

“Alongside birth, marriage, and death records, census records are the most important building block for family historians,” said Elaine Collins, Commercial Director, Find My Past. “We feel WorldVitalRecords.com is set for success, and we are excited to make our census records more accessible to an American audience who wouldn’t normally think of Find My Past as the first place to look for census records.”

The Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild (ISTG) lists is another large database containing almost 9,000 passenger lists and millions of names. The ISTG records include information such as surname, captain’s name, port of arrival/departure, and name of the ship. These records are the result of the work of more than 500 volunteers over a ten-year period.

“I am very excited about this partnership. I remember when ISTG was one-year old, and everyone was supporting us. In return, I’m happy to partner with WorldVitalRecords.com because they provide a service that is affordable and easily accessible on the Internet,” said Patty MacFarlane McCormack, Founder, Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild.

The World Collection also includes newspapers from Australia, the Bahamas, Canada (over 80 newspaper representing all provinces), Chile, Ecuador, England, Ireland, and Mexico (more than 150 newspapers from 15 states).

Genealogical Publishing Company also adds more than 600 large databases to the World Collection including colonial and Irish genealogy, royal ancestry, and family history.

“We have been publishing at Genealogical.com for 55 years, and we look forward to expanding our work into new territories, such as WorldVitalRecords.com,” said Barry Chodak, President, Genealogical Publishing Company.

Individuals can access more than 5,000 genealogical databases, more than 2 billion names (these names are being added throughout the year), and the World Collection at WorldVitalRecords.com

xxx

Media Contact

Whitney Ransom
Corporate Communications Director
FamilyLink.com, Inc.
WorldVitalRecords.com
whitney@familylink.com

About FamilyLink.com, Inc.

FamilyLink.com, Inc. is a family of services that includes WorldVitalRecords.com, FamilyLink.com, and We’re Related on Facebook. The focus of the company is to provide innovative tools to connect families.

About World Vital Records, Inc.

Founded in 2006, by Paul Allen and several key members of the original Ancestry.com team, World Vital Records, Inc. provides affordable genealogy databases and family history tools used by more than 470,000 monthly visitors, 6.4 million monthly pages views, and more than 24,000 subscribers. With thousands of databases including birth, death, military, census, and parish records, WorldVitalRecords.com makes it easy to extend your family tree. World Vital Records also runs FamilyLink.com, a social network for genealogists, and We’re Related, a popular Facebook application with more than 2 million users. Some of its partners include Everton Publishers, Quintin Publications, Archive CD Books Australia, Immigrant Ships Transcribers Guild, Archive CD Books Canada, The Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, Inc., SmallTownPapers®, Accessible Archives, Genealogical Publishing Company, Find My Past, Godfrey Memorial Library, Find A Grave, and FamilySearch™. Investors include vSpring Capital and several angel investors.